St Michael's Rowing Club host time trial ‘Head of the River’

THIS Saturday sees the winter season of rowing races kicking off with St Michaels Rowing Club hosting their time trial ‘Head of the River’ event at O’Briensbridge.

The Limerick club will welcome over 20 clubs and an amazing 499 crews from all over Ireland, including Skibbereen, Enniskillen, Commercial Dublin and Muckross Kerry, who will be racing over the 3km stretch of the Shannon from Castleconnell to O’Briensbridge.

The Head of the River time trial events differ from regattas as crews can launch and race against the clock at any time from 9am – 3pm.

Live feeds of the results by boat class will be available so crews can see how their times compare to the other crews, making for a very exciting day of racing.

The club offers two trophies for the best overall men’s (The Jim Monty Ahern Memorial Trophy) and women’s clubs (The Ailish Sheehan Memorial Trophy). Both trophies are named in memory of two outstanding club members.

Each crew will receive points for their placing in the event and the St Michaels crews will be doing their very best to ensure it’s their own crews which win both trophies.

The 2023 event is a specialised event for Juniors (13-18) and Masters (27+) to cater for the largest contingent of actively competing crews in the sport.

Many of the Masters crews will be returning from the recent Masters World Rowing Championships, held in South Africa.

Visiting crews will be looking forward to racing on one of the best stretches of the Shannon River and visiting and supporting local businesses also, especially in the beautiful village of O’Briensbridge.

An army of volunteers will be mustered by the club and aided by the event sponsors Bowe Dental it will help the club with its fundraising efforts for the season ahead.

More details of the event, including live times and results can be found on the club’s website www.smrc.ie and on the club’s social media pages.